where for art thou week ...

this was not part of my cunning plan,

i am itching to get stitching

but alas you are running away from me.

i have asked you to slow down

i fear you are hard of hearing

thus i am now changing tactics

and talking most kindly to next week

in the hope she is a little more doddery

and slower to get going 

and so we begin again ...

 my shiny happy new year started again today!

i am most excited by this, today is the first day of the rest of my year

i am officially a book worm. 

i was never a book worm before but now i am. 

in the past few months i can be found more often than not with book in hand rather than yarn or fabric. gasp! i know! i cannot help myself, i am on a path of enlightened reading and my little cogs are just whirring with it all. i told my man i was going to put a list of the books i had read or was reading on my blog, (look right and ye will find) he said "ah like the facebook chappy?" i said "what what?" because i do not know these things and he does. he explained and i thought how interesting, obviously the facebook chappy is also becoming a book worm too. we cannot be alone, perhaps 2015 will be the year of the book worm for many.

i now sleep with a mountain of books by my side, waiting patiently for their turn to inspire and i fall asleep counting my blessings

*********

i note the sun is shining for the first time in quite the whiles and wonder if instead of being here inside sitting with colin the computer and an inbox, i might spend my time more wisely outdoors. little olive agrees and thus we will shortly take a stroll around the block, she can have a good old sniff at the bottom of the trees and i can have a good old ganders at the tops of the trees against the blue sky. 

little olive is doing a tremendously good job at getting on without her besty buddy. i must confess she has claimed a whole couch for a whole week to mourn under a whole blanket but things are looking up... 

in the past two days we have been on walks, we have chased a cat or two, we have eaten our food, we have played with toys, we have barked at random passing strangers in neon anoraks and we have watched a bit of telly. 

so i am thinking i am not the only one starting their new shiny year again. 

♥

the kindness of others ...

i am sick with grief

yet my heart is overflowing with gratitude

gratitude for the incredible gift that was given to us 

over 14 years ago by the way of a third hand dog.

in all the years since i have never come across

a being nor a critter 

who made it so easy to give and receive love

gratitude for the kindness of others,

in my inbox, on my facebook page

and my instagram feed.

truly how remarkable you all are

to have reminded me Used Dog

was loved from the four corners of the globe.

you have held my hand, 

you have wiped my tears from afar.

and for that i am thanking you kindly

gratitude for the way Used Dog left this world

with such incredible grace and dignity.

she will always be our miracle dog

and as we start to go about the coming days

slowly but surely

the gaping hole in our lives will be filled

but our hearts will never forget

the 7th member of our clan,

my constant canine companion.

Our Sunnie Star